Wilderness
by Prettyhex04
Summary: Team Arrow take a vacation...sort of


**Okay so when I was writing this one, I've got to admit I kind of lost my inspiration so I ended it kind of early because well I don't like continuing to write stories that I have no inspiration with since it kind of kills it….and I'm babbling now so yeah go easy on me this is one of my first fanfics that I've uploaded, please review with this and all my stories. It makes writing stories a lot more fun and any prompts you want me to write to then send them in and I'll try my best. Thank you. **

Hiking through the tress of the forest that they were going to be in for the weekend, Felicity trailed after Oliver and Digg beside Roy, who wouldn't stop complaining.

They had decided that after the tense events of the past week that they needed to have a few days to themselves and Felicity had joked about going camping in a nearby forest that was just outside of Starling, but Oliver had taken her seriously.

Well so far it actually had been pretty decent, the scenery was amazing. They had seen so much wildlife, luckily Felicity had brought her camera along with her and because it didn't have a flash either it didn't scare away the creatures of the forest.

They had stopped for a bit of lunch, so Felicity had left her rucksack near the guys while she had gone off to explore a little but always staying in sight of everybody else. Roy had caught up with her and had joined her, searching for different sites.

"Hey Roy look at this!" Felicity called to Roy, who came bounding over like a dog, when she called him also catching the attention of Digg and Oliver, who were still finishing off their lunches.

"Wow that is amazing!" Roy stated.

Felicity had found the top of a waterfall and even from the top of it, the view was spectacular. The water roared out over the edge, sprouting water back in her face but she didn't mind. However, she was so caught up in the moment and the awe of beauty of the view that she wasn't aware of how close Roy was to her and how close they were to the edge.

"Guys be careful, the rocks may not be secure!" Digg yelled to them. Roy was momently distracted and shifted to his left tripping over his own foot and stumbling into Felicity, sending her soaring over the edge. Attempting to grab her, Roy caught nothing but air. When they heard Roy screaming Felicity's name both Oliver and Digg came dashing over to the spot where she had just occupied.  
"FELICITY!" Oliver bellowed before the trio watched her plummet towards the water's surface. Shockingly she managed to dodge all the rocks, barely, and then scarcely managed to correct her body position turning it into a dive that left her uninjured.

Rushing down the path that safely led them down to where Felicity fell, Oliver tracked the river to a bank. All three men were scouring the water for any sign of their friend. Beginning to become agitated, Oliver started yelling her name. After what seemed like hours, they saw a shadow under the water. Following shortly after, Felicity finally came up to the surface and gasped for oxygen. What worried Oliver was the fact that she was chucking up water. Suddenly Felicity began struggling to stay above surface; her boots were beginning to weigh her down.

"Felicity!" Oliver yelled again, rushing into the water after her when she made no move to head towards the bank. Swimming towards her, he saw her take a calm, deep breath and to his dismay plunged back under the water surface again. Diving after her, he saw her stripping herself of her boots so he gave her a hand in removing her boots before wrapping his arm around her waist and propelling himself to the surface. Hauling her into his chest, grasping her close to him, they began swimming towards the bank she was still wondering how the hell she managed to dodge all those rocks _and _get her body into the correct position. Well looks like when she used to get pushed off of cliffs by her idiotic brothers actually came into use today.

"Jesus Christ that is deep!" Felicity gasped out when they both made it to the bank. Oliver carried her and over to a nearby rock as she continued to inhale and exhale deeply.

"What the hell happened?" Digg questioned as Felicity tried to calm her rapidly beating heart.

"I tripped and stumbled into her" Roy answered with his head hung down. When both the guys glared at him she tried to turn all the attention off of Roy and back onto her, trying to save him from getting eaten alive.

"Guys look I'm okay, it was just an accident" Felicity tried to say evenly but as Oliver laid her hand over her pulse point in her wrist, it revealed just how hard and fast Felicity's heart was thudding.

"You're not alright, you just feel like 100 feet and if you hadn't of pulled that dive last minute then you could've been seriously hurt and besides you didn't surface for what, 5 minutes?" Oliver stated all in one breathe.

"I didn't surface because it was deeper than I thought it was and….I managed to get to the surface okay so there, how about we just leave it at that?"

"Felicity is there something you're not telling us?" Digg questioned from the way she paused halfway through her sentence. Glancing up at Digg, she was met by a firm look and when he raised his brows she broke. _How did he manage to do that every time?_ She thought before answering.

"Fine…..when I was at the bottom I think my foot got caught on a plant or something _but _I got free though, that's it and _having to swim through a maze of rocks_" Felicity said, muttering the last part, hoping they didn't hear it.

"At least you're here and not drowning, I guess that's okay" Digg signed when Oliver seemed close to breaking point. "Come on its getting late, we need to head to the campsite".

Felicity pushed up to her feet and began to follow Digg when suddenly she is being swept off of her feet, literally. Gasping in surprise, Oliver wasn't fazed as he headed to where they ditched their rucksacks.

"Oliver, you do know I _can _walk right?" Felicity tried to convince him to put her back down on the ground, but to no avail. When he didn't respond to her, she huffed irritably but to be honest her body was aching from having to swim at the force she had to. Also she had been wearing her boots and luckily not that baggy clothing so it didn't weigh her down as much but the boots made it harder to propel her body through the water. Oliver placed her down on the rocks for a split second to grab his sack but when he turned back to her again, she was beside Digg carrying her rucksack through the trees to their campsite. Growling in agitation Oliver easily caught up with the pair, Roy stayed at the back, still grumbling for allowing her to fall without doing something to try and catch her or not trip over in the first place.

Eventually making it to their campsite, they began setting up the tents. When they were up Felicity got changed into her more comfortable clothes that were baggier than the ones soaked through.

"Hey Felicity are you alright?" Roy asked and she could instantly tell that he was feeling immensely guilty for being the one to push her over the edge.  
"Roy, stop it, it was an accident alright, and I'm fine"

"Okay who's going to be sleeping with whom in the tents?" Digg questioned.

"Felicity can sleep with me" Oliver butted in; his tone wasn't to be trifled with.

"Looks like you're with me kid" Digg stated before turning in for the night, everyone else following in his footsteps.

Settling herself down into her sleeping bag, Felicity wished for the adrenaline to stop coursing through her so she can actually fall asleep. She could hear Oliver getting settled beside her in the dark, night time had come pretty quickly or maybe it was the fact that she couldn't stop thinking what if questions about her experience with the waterfall. The only thing left for her to do was to stare up at nothingness until her body finally grew more stable enough for her to fall asleep. Hearing groans and cursing from beside her, she knew that Oliver couldn't get to sleep either.

"Oliver?" Felicity asked, all she needed to say was his name to get the question across _are you alright? _The beauty of their friendship was that they almost _knew _what the other was saying or thinking just by paying attention to certain things such as body language, facial language and so on.

"Can't get to sleep either?" Oliver replied.

"Nope still wired from the freefalling earlier" Felicity breathed out, intending it to be a joke but the air suddenly became tense and it made her uncomfortable. When he unexpectedly reached across the dark space to grab her hand, his thumb traced over her pulse point on her wrist revealing the speed of which her heart was thudding in that moment and following the waterfall incident.

"You scared the hell out of me today, when I saw you tumbling towards the rocks everything focused on you….it was truly petrifying" Oliver admitted.

"Makes two of us and well I'm just glad I managed to pull myself together and turn my position into a dive, but how I missed those rocks I'll never know but I guess what my brothers used to do with me actually gave me an advantage….hmm…..I never thought I'd ever say that in my life" Felicity rambled on,

"What your brothers used to do?" Oliver questioned

"Funny story- ish –my brothers, as a joke, used to push me off a cliff or high positions so I'd be forced to get over my fear of heights and also gain it as a skill" Felicity said with a awkward laugh.

"What!? Your brothers used to push you off of a cliff?"

"Shocks you doesn't it, don't worry I always managed to get myself into a diving position and I guess now it's just like a sixth sense, if you want to put it that way-" Felicity was rambling on as per usual when a cool breeze drifted through their tent and she could feel him tense up "-hey are you okay?"

"Hmmm…..yeah it's just that this sleeping bag is a little bit too old, so it lets the cold air in….I'll be alright though"

"Oliver you don't know how cold it's going to get during the night…..um…..my sleeping bag is quite big so I'm sure we'll both be able to fit in…" at his protest on the thought she explained "…Oliver if you freeze in the middle of the night all because you didn't want to accept my offer, I _will _shoot you with one of your own bloody arrows"

"Now who's being stubborn?"

"Yeah that's one of the faults of being around you" Felicity retorted with a smile in her voice.

"_One _of the faults, oh tell me what are the others?" Oliver shot back curiously.

"Well there's the fact that you're goddamn annoying, sometimes quite arrogant and _really, really _stubborn and so many more that I could probably go on for days" Felicity began counting them off on her fingers with a smile perched on her face.

"Excuse my faults then Miss Smoak; at least I don't ramble on…..even though it does come in handy in those boring board meetings that go on for endless hours", you could tell he was pretending to be insulted.

"Rude!" Felicity exclaimed reaching over to smack him on his chest, causing a 'hey' to escape from his lips without his consent. They both suddenly burst out in silent laughs, careful not to wake the two men sleeping in the nearby tent.

"So you're saying that if I don't accept your offer, you're going to kill me with my own bow and arrows? I'm shocked, was that a threat?" Oliver asked playfully.

"Yep, got a problem with that Mr Queen?" Felicity returned formally, going into her 'professional' voice.

"Fine…..Miss Smoak I graciously accept your offer of sharing the warmth of your sleeping bag so I don't end up getting stabbed by one of my own arrows" Oliver stated. If any one of them noticed that during the entire scene that just unfolded, he didn't release his grasp of her hand then they didn't say anything towards it.

Using her hand as a guide, Oliver heard Felicity unzipping her sleeping bag and shifted over to make room for him. Settling himself down next to her, he drew out a long breathe. When his hand coasted over her pulse point for a split second he could feel the rapid thudding of her heart, his concern growing with every passing second.

"Felicity, are you alright?"

"Hmm….yeah, it's just that I'm still an adrenaline junkie that's all" Felicity explained but he could hear the tiredness in her voice.

About ten minutes later he was sound asleep while she was struggling fall asleep. She was beginning to drop off when she felt him shift beside her, clearly having a nightmare about something. Moving herself onto her right side so she could see the outline of his tormented figure in the dark, Felicity pondered on the thoughts of what to do. What was getting through his defences and causing him torment? Should she give him some space? Should she get Digg or Roy? Should she wake him up? All her thoughts were halted dead in their tracks when he muttered her name.

"…..Felicity….no…..where are you" Oliver's voice came out breathless and desperate but the part that had her scared was it sounded _full of pain_.

She reached out and touched his shoulder; he flinched like she'd stabbed him. Her hand gently slid down his arm until it reached his hand. His breaths came out in short gasps.

"Oliver, I'm here….I'm here" Felicity whispered to him, guiding his hand to her mouth where she placed a soft kiss. When he flinched again, she lowered his hand back down before her hand cupped his cheek while her thumb began moving reassuringly. Laying herself back down on her back, brushing her right shoulder with his left. At this moment he became calmer and just when she thought he was drifting back off into a peaceful slumber, Oliver shifted again turning into her. Snuggling his head against her chest, both his arms encased themselves around her waist, tugging her to him also closing any distance between the pair. Felicity couldn't resist it so she brought her arm up and began ensuing soothing ministrations, her hand moving down the back of his neck. When he shivered, he moved further into the warmth that she was offering.

"…Felicity, I love you" Oliver murmured before the last muscle relaxed and she knew he'd fallen asleep. So here they were, his head pillowing against her stomach and both arms wrapped protectively around her small figure while at some point he had entangled his legs with hers. He was basically cocooned in the warmth that she was proving. Now her heartbeat was beating more rapidly for a different reason. Taking in deep breaths, Felicity shut her eyes and listened to the gentle beating of Oliver's heart. Growling in agitation, she detangled her legs from Oliver's and carefully shifted her body out of the sleeping bag and out of his grasp. Breathing in the fresh air, she could feel her heart begin to slow down slightly so no more saw she an adrenaline junkie. A twig snapping is what brought her concentration to the trees. Scanning the forest for the intruder her eyes halted at the sight of two chocolate-brown eyes staring at her. There stood in front of her was a jet-black wolf and it seemed like it's focus was entirely on her alone, but there was something different about it she didn't feel afraid instead she felt something she couldn't name at that particular moment. He just stood there at full height, head turned slightly to the right staring at her like she was the most important thing in the world.

Something had woken Oliver from his peaceful slumber and instantly he felt like something wasn't right, something was missing. Turning to the left he immediately noticed that a certain blonde I.T girl wasn't asleep beside him. Tension suddenly flooded his senses; he exited the tent and halted dead in his tracks. The first sight he was met by was Felicity staring off into the trees but shifting on his feet not wanting to startle her, he saw exactly what had her so captivated. A black wolf was staring straight back at her. Little did they know that Roy was taping the whole thing on his phone, while taking a load of pictures as well. After looking on in shock at how it just looked upon her, never making a move towards her, it finally made a move but instead of attacking it threw its head back and let loose a howl. Before taking off back deep into the forest it spared one last glance at Felicity, who still hadn't moved seemingly still in awe, then disappeared into the darkness.

"Felicity?" Oliver asked automatically going up to her, checking if she was alright.

"Hmm….yeah?" she replied, seemingly still in some sort of trance.

"You okay?" he asked, drawing his brows together.

"Yeah, I'm alright….just sort of stunned I guess"

"Magical isn't it" a smile lit up his face, and she returned it.

"Definitely"

"Come on…it's getting later, so the coldness will only get worse" he stated before enveloping her hand in his and tugging her back to the tent.

Once they were inside and safe in Felicity's sleeping bag, she noticed that he wasn't hesitant to pull her close to him, securing her to his chest.

"You know that's actually quite rare to see" Oliver broke the silence

"At first I thought he was going to attack me or something but then as soon as he locked eyes with me, I just sort of knew I guess that I was in the safe and there was something I couldn't place"

"Respect" Oliver stated before continuing "they say that the wolf is a survivor and sees something in people that others don't see…..I saw one of the island and when it left I was just….left in awe….now let's get some sleep, I think your adrenaline will be leaving your system soon"

"No arguments here" Felicity voiced and before she fell asleep she heard a wolf howling. Feeling Oliver relax beside her, she knew that he was asleep.

Best. Camping. Trip. EVER! Well apart from falling off of the waterfall though.


End file.
